Bill Pintard recorded his 600th win as manager of the Santa Barbara Foresters on Monday with a 6-4 decision over the San Luis Obispo Blues at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
The defending national champs do a lot of winning, but the ends don’t justify the means for Pintard — winning has to happen in a certain way.
“It’s important to me that they play the game the right way,” he said, still dripping after getting the Gatorade dunk from pitcher Chris Joyce.
“The wins and losses really take care of themselves if you play the game the right way, and that’s why I have a smile on my face driving out to the yard every day. It doesn’t get old.”
The dunking wasn’t the only surprise after the game for Pintard, who has managed the team for 15 years, as his young daughter Kelby presented him with a congratulatory cake.
But what if the team had lost?
“Then it’s a good thing it wasn’t an ice cream cake,” said brother and first base coach Dave Pintard.
The Foresters (29-9, 12-3) scored the first four runs of the game in the second inning, with the first three coming on a 3-run homer rocketed off the bat of catcher Ryan Hege. It was his first of the season.
“It felt really good. I thought it was gonna be a sky-high pop-up but it went out,” said Hege, who added that it could be considered a birthday present for hitting coach Gary Woods.
Speedy Tim Maitland — who went 3-for-4 on the day — followed with a single shortly after and created his own run. He stole second and got to third when the throw trickled into center field, then came home on a wild pitch by Blues starter Kelley Fick, who came into the game with a 5-0 record but took the loss.
“It’s been a lot of fun for a speed guy like me to come play with a team that runs the bases so aggressively,” said Maitland, an outfielder for the University of Texas.
Joyce got the start for the Foresters and managed to pitch four scoreless innings despite having trouble finding the strike zone. He settled down and struck out the side in order in the fourth, but gave up a pair of singles and three walks, being charged with three earned runs in 4.1 innings. He struck out six and walked six.
“He struggled in the first inning, but then I thought he flashed his old form in the second, third and fourth innings… He shouldn’t be down. He’s comin’,” said Pintard.
Matt Evers, Nick Di Napoli and Matt Hutchison came on in relief for the Foresters to close the door. Santa Barbara added two more runs on a pair of wild pitches in the bottom of the fifth. Though it was not a California Collegiate League game (the Blues are joining next year), the teams are longtime rivals and the Foresters avenged a loss to the Blues from earlier in the year.
The Urban Academy Barons come to town for a 3-game series beginning with a 5 p.m. game on Tuesday. All games are broadcast on AM 1490 KIST and www.sbforesters.org.
